Stock Market

Millennials are the children of Baby Boomers, who were a huge part of the bull market in the 1990s. The S&P 500 keeps growing, but millennials are by and large avoiding the stock market. We step into Times Square to uncover their biggest hesitations. While the S&P 500 has grown over the past five years, only 13% of millennials are invested in the stock market. Some people are uncomfortable with investing in the stock market because of the 2008 market collapse that was sparked by the financial crisis.

Some find it interesting to follow, but are still wary, and others are worried about losing money if the stock they invested in goes down. Another big reason people do not invest is because of a lack of knowledge and not wanting to put their financial control into someone else’s hands. Additionally, people say they do not have extra money available for investing in the stock market or for putting away into retirement funds, especially because of the vast majority of people burdened with costly student loans. Another reason people are short on cash for investing is that jobs were scarce when Millennials were graduating from college and looking to get into the workforce.

This caused a late start in many people’s careers. The bottom line is that trust and know-how are in short supply. However, a person’s reluctance to invest in the stock market is not a good thing for their future savings. Additionally, it is also not good for the market in general because of the 75 million Millennials who are wary about investing. However, hopefully with jobs becoming more plentiful and salaries increasing, Millennials will have some spare money to invest in the stock market.